Monte Solberg

Monte Solberg

QMI Agency

The Honourable Monte Solberg was the Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat from 1993 to 2008. In February 2006 he became Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. In January 2007 he was appointed Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. During his time in Cabinet he served on various committees including Foreign Affairs and National Security, Operations and Economic Growth and Long Term Prosperity. Today Monte is a columnist for Sun Media, frequently appears on television as a political commentator, is a popular speaker and is a Principal at New West Public Affairs. He also serves a Governor with the International Development Research Centre. He and his wife Deb live in southern Alberta.

A hundred years ago the debate in the United States over the limits of free speech was summed up by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes when he declared that no one has an absolute right to cry “fire” in a crowded theatre.

Being a citizen is hard. To do it completely right we are supposed to examine the political issues closely, and ask if they make sense based on what we know about the economy, the government’s finances, how society works, world affairs, the human condition and what constitutes justice. Ha! And that’s only the beginning.

Alberta’s Premier Jim Prentice certainly deserves kudos for last week’s four byelection victories. Since becoming premier in September he has been humble and responsive. He moved quickly to prune the jumble of deadwood and mossy stumps from cabinet, he reversed some of the previous administration's worst decisions and he set a new tone around gover

Two soldiers dead in three days. A terrorist attack on Parliament Hill. A terror suspect shot dead by the mild-mannered Kevin Vickers, House of Commons sergeant-at-arms and protector of the mace, the symbol of parliamentary authority.

If you ask political observers who it was that elected Stephen Harper prime minister, the answers would be of a sort. Guys with bow ties would say Michael Ignatieff, Stephane Dion, Paul Martin or Jack Layton. A few especially trenchant thinkers would say Preston Manning.

“We have to realize that the way of thinking that got us to this place no longer holds. We have to rethink elements as basic as space and time, to go all science fictiony on you in this sense,” said Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, speaking to university students in London, Ontario.

Stories

You might want to sit down, I have bad news. The federal Conservatives are determined to balance the budget this year, and it’s going to happen. The parliamentary budget officer pretty much confirmed that last week.

In the mid-to-late 1600s, 20,000 Russian Old Believers burned themselves to death instead of agreeing to changes in the Russian Orthodox Church liturgy. The dispute boiled down to disagreements over how many fingers you should use to cross yourself and which direction the procession should go around the altar.

The government has committed prorogation. It took the old parliamentary session to the alley, cracked it on the skull with a lead pipe and then heaved its lifeless form into the ash bin of history. Good.

By the time you read this Joyce Murray will be the new leader of the Liberal party. Surely her victory must rank as one of the greatest upsets in the history of the adult entertainment industry that we call politics.

I know it’s still popular in some circles to say different cultures have different values, but all cultures are equal. I also know why people say this and it’s not because it’s obviously true, quite the contrary. They say it to avoid conflict.